Politicians seek shelter over immigration issue

Your March 31 editorial, “California’s enlightened duo,” gives too much credit to our two U.S. senators and, by extension, to the Senate itself. In 1986, Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act, which gave amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. Congress assured us that the act would solve the illegal immigration problem once and for all. Clearly that was not the case.

Although I find much to support in the Senate’s current proposals, I can assure you that unless there is a provision that will prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants, we will have only a non-solution. So far, few, if any, in Congress want to enforce serious sanctions against employers (a.k.a. donors). The need for cheap labor trumps other issues every time. Politicians are looking for shelter from this issue for another 20 years, not for a real solution that would satisfy the majority of Americans.

GARY PETERS

Paso Robles, Calif.